Elizabeth Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
by RoniCullen
Summary: Elizabeth thought her first year was rough but now she's in for a real adventure, returning for her second year with her twin brother and best friends. And of course, there's the House Elf with a destructive plan to keep them away from Hogwarts... Rated K ; nothing you won't see in the books or the movies.
1. Dobby the House Elf

**A/N The first chapter of the second fanfiction! Hope you guys like it. Please review. **

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I lied on the top bunk of Harry's and my bunk-bed. For fear of Dumbledore, once we got back, the Dursely's moved us up to Dudley's old second bedroom. I turned my locket over several times in my hands as I read 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' for the hundredth time. I wore a blue, long sleeved shirt with black pants and brown leather boots. Hedwig and Elf started squawking in their cages, pecking at the lockers on their cage doors.

"I can't, Hedwig! I'm not allowed to use magic outside school!" Harry told his owl. I looked over at him, putting down my book.

"You are talking to an owl… That's the first sign of insanity." I told him. He shot me a look but wasn't able to say anything before we heard Uncle Vernon calling us from downstairs. Harry looked at the owls.

"Now you've done it!" He got up from his desk. I jumped down from my top bunk, ignoring the ladder. We went downstairs to the living room, passing Aunt Petunia who was making a cake. Uncle Vernon was struggling with Dudley's bowtie.

"I warned you. If you can't control those bloody birds, they'll have to go." Uncle Vernon warned us.

"Why don't you go?" I suggested, keeping my voice level and calm. He glared at me.

"They're bored. If we could just let them out for an hour or two-." Harry started.

"And have you sending secret messages to your freaky little friends? No sir!" Uncle Vernon told us.

"But we haven't gotten any messages. From any of our friends. Not one all summer." I reminded him.

"Who'd want to be friends with you?" Dudley sneered. I looked over at him and returned the sneer.

"Right back at you, Fat-Cake!"

"I should think you'd be more grateful. We raise you, since you were babies, give you food off our table, even let you have Dudley's second bedroom… purely out of the goodness of our hearts."

"The goodness of your hearts? Really?" I asked with a laugh. Harry dug his elbow into my ribs to shut me up, which I reluctantly did. Dudley was extending a finger towards the cake.

"Not yet, pumpkin! That's for when the Mason's arrive!" Aunt Petunia told him.

"Which should be any moment! Now, let's run our schedule one more time. Petunia, when the Mason's get here you will be…" Uncle Vernon started.

"In the lounge, waiting to welcome them graciously to our home." She answered.

"Good. And Dudley?"

"I'll be waiting to open the door."

"Excellent… And you two?" He turned to us.

"We'll be in our bedroom." Harry replied.

"Making no noise." I added.

"And pretending we don't exist." Harry finished.

"Right you will! Go." He pushed us upstairs as the doorbell rang. We hurried up to our bedroom, shutting the door behind us. We turned and stopped dead. A tiny creature with grey skin, pointy ears and bulging green eyes was bouncing on the top bunk of the bed.

"Harry and Elizabeth Potter! What an honor to meet you!" He scrambled off the bunk bed and onto the floor.

"What?" I asked in shock.

"Who are you?" Harry asked.

"Dobby, sir. Dobby the house elf." He replied.

"I see… Not to be rude or anything, but this isn't a great time to have a house elf in our bedroom." I told him, recovering my voice.

"Oh, yes, ma'am. Dobby understands. It's just that, Dobby has come to tell you… It is difficult, ma'am… Dobby wonders where to begin." He told us.

"Why don't you sit down?" Harry suggested.

"S…S…Sit down?" Suddenly Dobby burst into tears, sobbing. And it was not quiet sobs either; it was 'holy crap is this dying' sobs! I looked towards the door nervously.

"I'm sorry! Shh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you or anything!" Harry said quickly.

"Offend Dobby? Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but has never been asked to sit down by a wizard, like an equal." Dobby choked out.

"You can't have met any descent wizards then." I noted. Dobby shook his head. Then without warning, he jumped onto the desk and started bang his head with a lamp.

"BAD DOBBY! BAD DOBBY!" He screamed. Harry ran to try and wrestle the lamp out of his hands.

"That's it! We're just going to have to die!" I hissed, knowing that Uncle Vernon would be up in here any second. Finally, Dobby stopped.

"Are you alright?" I asked him.

"Dobby had to punish himself, ma'am. Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, ma'am." He told me.

"Your family?" I echoed.

"The wizard family Dobby serves, ma'am. Dobby is bound to serve one family forever. If they ever knew Dobby was here…" Dobby shuddered in fear.

"But Dobby had to come! Dobby has to protect Harry and Elizabeth Potter! To warn them! Harry and Elizabeth Potter must not go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year!" He whispered.

"Not go back?! But we have to!" Harry told him.

"This is a plot! A plot to make most terrible things happen! If Harry and Elizabeth Potter go back to the school, they will be in great danger!" Dobby told us.

"What terrible things? Who's plotting them?" Harry asked. Dobby started making choking and gagging noises.

"Okay! Okay, stop! You can't say, I get it!" I told him. Too late. He started banging his head against our dresser.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Harry cried. We heard footsteps on the stairs. Harry grabbed Dobby by his pillow-case clothing and shoved him into the wardrobe. I leaned against it to keep him from opening it. Uncle Vernon burst into the room.

"What the devil are you doing up here?! One more sound and you'll both wish you'd never been born!" He threatened. He slammed the door again. I pulled the wardrobe door open.

"See why we've got to go back?! We don't belong here! We belong in your world! At Hogwarts! It's the only place we've got friends." I told him.

"Friend who don't even write to Harry and Elizabeth Potter?" Dobby asked.

"Well, I expect they've been-." Harry started.

"Hang on! How do you know our friends haven't been writing to us?!" I demanded. Dobby sheepishly took out a stack of letters.

"Harry and Elizabeth Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby… Dobby hoped if Harry and Elizabeth Potter thought their friends had forgotten them… They might not want to go back to school, sir, ma'am." He told us.

"Give me those. Now!" Harry demanded. Dobby frowned. Then he dashed out the door. Harry and I ran after him, stumbling down the stairs. We stopped in the doorway to the kitchen. Dobby was staring at the cake. He snapped his fingers. It began floating towards the Mason's heads.

"Dobby, please, I'm begging you, no." I whispered. Harry began walking after the cake to try and stop it, a feeble attempt and we both knew it.

"Harry and Elizabeth Potter must not go back to school!" He told me. I kneeled down in front of him so I was at eye level with him.

"Hogwarts is our home!" I shot back. I couldn't believe we were being black mailed by a two foot tall house elf in a pillowcase!

"Then Dobby must do it, ma'am. For Harry and Elizabeth's Potter's own good!" He snapped his fingers again. The cake plummeted onto the Mason's. Dobby snapped his fingers again and disappeared. The Mason's were just standing up, covered in cake. I sullenly walked over to take my place beside my brother.


	2. Secret's Out

**A/N so sorry for the long wait. I'll try to update sooner. Yeah, I know I've said that a lot. Anyway, please read and review!**

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"I'm sorry! It's our nephew and niece! Very disturbed! Meeting strangers upsets them, so we kept them upstairs!" Uncle Vernon told them. The Mason's raced out the house. Dudley, Vernon and Petunia raced after them. Harry and I made a beeline for the stairs. Vernon was back in before we could make it up to our room. He was holding a letter.

"Go on! Read it!" He told us, shoving it in our face. We had to take a step back to be able to read it.

"'Dear Mr. Harry and Ms. Elizabeth Potter, we have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence at twelve minutes past seven this evening. As you know underage wizards…'." We trailed off from reading it in unison. We looked at each other. Harry had gone paler than usual. I felt like I was about to throw up, so I must not have looked all that good either.

"'Are not permitted to perform spells outside school'!" Vernon finished for us. He sneered.

"You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic at home. Slipped your mind, did it?" He asked. We didn't answer. Behind our backs, I gripped Harry's wrist. We were really dead now…

"Well, I've got news for you two! I'm locking you up! And if you try to magic yourself out, they'll expel you! You're never going back to that school! Never!" He yelled. He grabbed my arm and yanked me off the stairs, pulling my hand out of Harry's.

"And I'm going to separate you! You like being alone, don't ya?!" He shoved me into the broom closet under the stairs. All of our school supplies were there and I landed hard on one of the trunks. I could feel bruises coming on in at least three places from that one. I could hear Harry's useless shouts of protest behind me as Vernon slammed the door. I heard him lock it from the outside. I scrambled to my feet. I'd grown a lot in the past year and my head hit the ceiling, hard. I gave a gasp of pain but ran over to the door away, trying to force my way out. It didn't work. I was locked in… I hadn't realized until now that I had developed claustrophobia. My heart pounded in the small space. I got down on my hands and knees and searched along the floor. Finally, I located my messenger bag. I swiftly dug out the box of matches and struck one. It didn't give much light, but it was enough for me to find the light switch before it burnt out. I flicked the light on. Everything looked the same, but smaller in proportion to my now larger size. I went over to the door again. I gave it a good kick, but it didn't do anything but hurt my foot. I rammed my shoulder against it. It did nothing but _really_ hurt my shoulder. I held my shoulder painfully and sat down on the bed in defeat.

"Thanks, Dobby… Thanks a lot." I said to no one. I curled up on the bed and closed my eyes.

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I lost track of time. Dudley opened the door just a crack to throw me a plate of bread, which I caught in the face because I had just woken up when he opened the door.

"I know what day it is." He sneered. I stood up, though it was more of a stoop since I didn't want to hit my head again.

"Oh, did little Dudley finally learn the days of the week?" I mocked. I was not in the mood for his… Well, his personality. He sneered again.

"Today's your birthday! And nobody cares!" He slammed the door shut again. I ran over to it and pounded my fist against it as hard as I could.

"HARRY CARES! HERMIONE CARES! RON CARES! FRED CARES! GEORGE CARES! MRS. WEASLEY CARES! NEVILLE CARES! I HAVE MORE FRIENDS THAN YOU EVER WILL!" I screamed through the door. I kicked it for good measure before I sat down again.


	3. Grand Theft Potter

**Please review.**

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I was curled up on the bed, still dressed in my red tank top, black shrug, jeans and ankle boots. I heard someone lightly knock on the door. I rolled myself onto the floor and went over, thinking it was Harry, who had somehow escaped.

"Harry?" I asked to be sure. Could be Dudley trying to mess with me, better safe than sorry….

"Next guess?" Two familiar voices chorused.

"Fred! George!" I gasped in surprise. I heard them chuckle lightly.

"One second and we'll get ya out of there!" George assured me. I could hear the lock being picked. Suddenly the door was open. I flung myself out of the space, taking a deep breath. I hugged both of them.

"What are you doing here?!" I demanded, struggling to keep my voice low.

"Rescuing you of course!" Fred told me. We grabbed the trunks and bags and snuck outside to the car they'd parked on the lawn. I smirked. Aunt Petunia was going to hate that. We loaded them into the trunk. Ron was sitting in the driver's seat, grinning at me.

"Hey, Elizabeth!" He greeted me.

"Hey, Ron!"

"Next stop: Harry's room." He said with a chuckle. Fred took his place in the driver's seat as Ron scooted over. George and I got in the back seat.

"Watch this." George told me, grinning mischievously. I raised an eyebrow. Fred started the car again and it actually flew up to the window.

"I should be surprised… I'm not." I admitted. I'd honestly seen weirder in the past year.

"Fred, George, Ron, Elizabeth?" Harry asked in surprised as we pulled up at the bars on his window.

"Miss me?" I asked with a smirk.

"Stand back." George ordered. He put a hook on the bars, attached the rope to the back of the car and then motioned to Fred. He floored it. The bars broke off, falling into the bushes below. We backed up so that Harry could get in. He was on the windowsill before we heard two squawks.

"Hedwig! Elf!" He raced back for the cages. He handed both of them to us and we put them in the backseat. The bedroom door burst open.

"PETUNIA! HE'S GETTING AWAY!" Uncle Vernon yelled. He grabbed Harry's ankle as he tried to make it into the car. Ron grabbed his wrists.

"Fred, go!" Fred floored it again. Ron pulled Harry into the car as Uncle Vernon tumbled into the bushes below.

"Oops." George and I said in unison, then laughing because it had happened. Ron looked between Harry and me.

"By the way, happy birthday." We both smiled as we flew away.


	4. At The Burrow

**A/N Two updates since the last one was kind of short.**

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"Let's slip inside before mum wakes up." Fred told us as we got to the Weasley home that morning. We slipped inside the front door, closing it gently behind us. Harry and I looked around. A pot was cleaning itself in the sink. A clock on the wall showed the locations of each family member. Fred, George and Ron's clock hands turned to 'Home' as they walked inside the house. A sweater was knitting itself in a rocking chair.

"It's not much… but its home." Ron told us, looking self conscious.

"It's… brilliant." Harry told him. He smiled slightly.

"WHERE. HAVE. YOU. BEEN?!" Everyone jumped. Mrs. Weasley came around the corner, glaring furiously at Ron, Fred and George. She smiled sweetly at Harry and I.

"Harry, Elizabeth! How wonderful to see you." She looked back at boys.

"NO NOTE! CAR GONE! YOU COULD'VE DIED! YOU COULD'VE BEEN SEEN!" She yelled. Harry and I weren't sure what to make of her changing attitude.

"They were starving 'em, mum! There were bars on Harry's window!" Ron told her.

"And they had Elizabeth locked under the stairs!" George added, motioning towards me. I quickly shook my head at him. I did not need to be any more involved in this.

"You'd best hope that I don't put bars on your windows!" Mrs. Weasley told them. She looked at us again and softened instantly.

"Care for a spot of tea, Harry, Elizabeth?" A red haired girl, obviously their younger sister, bounded down the stairs.

"Mummy, have you seen my jumper-." She stopped dead when she saw us. She looked at me with curiosity and then Harry. Her eyes widened and she ran back upstairs.

"Ginny… Been talking about Harry all summer. Dead annoying, really..." Ron told us. I gave Harry a 'she's got a crush on you' look.

"Dad's home!" George announced. The front door opened and Mr. Weasley entered.

"What a night! Nine raids! Nine!" He said.

"Raids?" I echoed questioningly to Ron.

"Dad works at the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office." He explained.

"Misuse of Muggle Artifacts?" Harry asked.

"That's when wizards bewitch something to drive Muggles mad. Shrinking house keys, that sort of thing. Dad loves Muggles. Thinks they're fascinating…" Mr. Weasley hung up his cloak and turned. He spotted Harry and me.

"Well now… Who are you?" He asked.

"Harry, sir. Harry Potter and this is my sister Elizabeth." Harry told him.

"Good lord, are you really? Ron's told us all about you, of course. When did you get here?" He asked.

"This morning. Your sons flew that enchanted car of yours to surrey and back last night!" Mrs. Weasley told him, staring at the twins and Ron.

"Did you now? How'd it go!?" He asked excitedly. He caught Mrs. Weasley's look.

"I… I mean… that was very wrong, boys. Very wrong indeed. So, Harry, Elizabeth, you must know all about Muggles. Tell me, what is the use of a rubber duck?" He asked. I wasn't sure how to answer that. Luckily, we didn't have to. An owl hit the window with a thunk and we all turned towards the window. Percy Weasley had just come downstairs and he fetched the package from the dazed look owl.

"It's our Hogwarts letters! And look, they've sent Harry and Elizabeth's as well." He announced. He handed everyone their letters.

"Dumbledore doesn't miss a trick, that man." Mr. Weasley said.

"This lot won't come cheap, mum. The spell books alone…" Fred started. She took the letter from him.

"We'll manage. Right then. There's only one place to get all of this. Diagon Alley."


	5. Return to Diagon Alley

**A/N please review.**

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We had gathered in front of the fireplace. Mrs. Weasley offered a flowerpot full of powder to Harry.

"You first, Harry dear."

"They've never traveled by Floo powder before, mum." Ron told her.

"Floo powder?" We echoed in unison.

"Percy, would you mind going first to show Harry and Elizabeth how it's done?" She asked. Percy took a small handful and stepped into the fireplace.

"Diagon Alley!" He dropped the powder and flames roared up. As soon as they were gone, so was he. Mrs. Weasley offered the pot to Harry.

"Remember to speak clearly, dear." She told him. He nodded and stepped into the fireplace.

"D-diagon alley." He sputtered. He was engulfed in flames.

"Did he just say…" Mrs. Weasley started.

"Well, done, Harry." I said sarcastically.

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In Flourish and Blotts, Harry and Hermione showed up.

"Have a nice time?" I asked Harry, smirking. He shot me a look as I hugged Hermione hello. Mrs. Weasley came over to us.

"Oh, Harry! Thank goodness! We hoped you'd only gone a grate too far. Oh! There he is!" Mrs. Weasley pointed excitedly at Gilderoy Lockheart.

"Mum fancies him." Ron told us.

"Out of the way! This is for the daily prophet!" A reporter said, pushing his way through the crowd with a camera. Lockheart flashed a smile but then caught sight of Harry.

"It can't be Harry Potter!" Quickly, I ducked behind Fred and George, who were more than tall enough to hide me. Harry could take all the attention today. He did most the time already… Lockheart dove forward, grabbed Harry and pulled him up on stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen! What an extraordinary moment this is! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts this morning to purchase my autobiography, Magical Me, which incidentally is celebrating its twenty-seventh week atop the Daily Prophet's Bestseller List, he had no idea he would, in fact, be leaving with my entire collected works! Free of charge!" A stack of books were shoved into his arms. He stumbled off stage. Ginny and I moved over to meet him, though Ginny looked sheepish about being close to him.

"Here, you have these." He dropped his books into Ginny's bucket.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you Potter?" We turned towards Draco.

"Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go into a bookstore without making the front page!" He went on.

"Draco, do you remember when I decked you? I will do it again." I threatened. He shot me a look.

"Leave him alone!" Ginny told him fiercely.

"Look, Potter. You've got yourself a girlfriend!" Draco teased.

"And a pissed off sister!" I added. His father stalked over.

"Ah… Mr. Potter, Ms. Potter. I don't believe we've met." He said.

"Lucky us." I said. Mr. Malfoy ran his fingers over Harry's forehead to see his scar. Harry moved back. Mr. Weasley walked over to us.

"Harry, Ginny, Elizabeth, let's go outside. It's mad in here." He said. Then he saw Mr. Malfoy.

"Busy time at the Ministry. All those raids. I hope their paying you overtime." Mr. Malfoy said. He reached into Ginny's bucket and pulled out one of the battered books.

"Obviously not." He put the book back in Ginny's bucket and then he and Draco stalked off. I looked at Harry.

"Next time I see Draco, I'm gonna deck him again."


	6. Return to Kings Cross Station

**A/N as always, please review.**

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We rushed through the train station. The clock read two minutes to eleven.

"Oh dear, the train will be leaving any moment!" Mrs. Weasley cried. We got to platform nine and three quarters. Percy, Fred and George raced through. Ginny, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley followed suit. Ron glanced at the clock.

"We'd better hurry." He said. He and Harry ran towards the barrier. They smashed into it and bit it on the floor. Glad I had decided to let them go through first, I ran over to see if they were okay.

"What in blazes d'you think you're doing?!" A guard asked.

"Checking the wall. Very solid! Great job guarding, sir!" I told him. He gave me a weird look and walked off.

"We can't we get through?" Ron asked. The clock chimed behind us.

"The train leaves at eleven! We missed it!" I told them.

"Harry, Elizabeth… If we can't get through, maybe mum and dad can't get back." Ron said.

"Maybe we should go wait by the car." Harry suggested. I smirked and looked at Ron.

"The car!"

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We got to the car and got our things in the trunk, putting the owl cages in the backseat.

"This is mad! We can't drive to Hogwarts!" Harry said.

"Who says we going to drive?" I asked.

"You don't mean… Elizabeth, no!" He told me.

"Look, we've got to get to Hogwarts, don't we?" I asked.

"Ever underage wizards are allowed to use magic in an absolute emergency! At least that's what Fred and George say…" Ron said.

"I wouldn't believe anything they tell you, but this _is_ an emergency and we have to!" I agreed.

"Something tells me we're going to regret this." Harry mumbled. I climbed into the backseat.

"Of course we're going to regret this. Get in."

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Ron got the car up in the air above the parking lot.

"Ron, I should tell you. Most muggles aren't accustomed to seeing a flying car." I told him.

"Right." He punched a silver button before driving into the clouds. I leaned forward in my seat.

"See, no owls are dive-bombing us with letters about how we're not supposed to use magic! Besides, it's a car that happens to be enchanted, not really magic…" I told Harry. He looked over at me.

"Why is it that I'm the one that thinks things through and is responsible and you're the one that's mad?!" He demanded.

"Maybe I just got all the fun genes." I suggested. He rolled his eyes at me from behind his glasses.

"Or the stupid ones!"

"Hey, you're the responsible idiot twin and I'm the intelligent psychopathic twin. It's an even divide!" I told him. There was a pop from the car as we came out of the clouds over some empty green spaces.

"Tell me that wasn't anything important…" I said.

"The invisibility booster must be faulty…" Ron explained, pressing the button repeatedly.

"Any sign of the train?" Harry asked.

"There! Up ahead!" I pointed between them out the windshield. They looked at the train tracks.

"Brilliant!" Ron cried. He shifted gears and glided down until we were just a few feet above the tracks.

"It must be around here someplace…." Ron muttered, driving above the tracks. Then we heard the whistle of a train. Both Harry and Ron perked up.

"We must be getting close!" Ron said excitedly. Only I realized what direction the sound was coming from.

"Um… Guys…." We all turned around in our seats to look behind us. The train was barreling towards us. We all screamed. Ron spun the wheel and put his foot on the gas. At the last possible second, he whipped the car into the air and off the tracks. It toppled over at an angle. The owl cages and I both hit the side of the car. The passenger side door opened and Harry fell out, grasping the door handle to keep himself from falling.

"Harry!" Ron and I both yelled in unison. I was in the backseat, struggling to move the owl cages off me. I couldn't get to him to help him back inside.

"Take the wheel!" Ron yelled a split second before jumping away from the wheel to grab Harry's hand. I cursed, threw myself over the back of the seat, scrambled into the front seat and gripped the wheel tightly.

"A little more of a warning would've been nice!" I yelled at Ron as I tried to keep the car level and in the air. Ron pulled Harry into the car and they shut the door again. I looked over at the two of them, still holding the wheel until my knuckles turned white.

"Well, on the bright side, we found the train!"


	7. Bad Tree

**A/N Hope you guys like this chapter. **

**Because it's short, I'll update with another one too. **

**Please review!**

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We flew towards Hogwarts castle with me still at the wheel and Ron squeezed in between me and Harry. I smiled at the familiar sight. Sure, the Dursely's raised us in their house, but this was our true home, the one place we felt like we belonged. Ron looked between Harry and me.

"Welcome home." He told us. Suddenly there was a groan from the car. It lurched downward towards a giant willow tree. I desperately tried to change gears. Nothing.

"Turn, turn, turn!" Harry cried. I tried. Nothing happened. Harry was still yelling at me to 'turn'.

"TRYING, TRYING, TRYING!" I shouted back. Ron and Harry reached over and the three of us turned the wheel. Nothing. Ron whipped out his wand and whacked the dashboard with it.

"STOP, STOP, STOP!" He yelled. The wand broke almost in half, hanging by a thread, and nothing happened. The car met the tree head on. We landed in the branches. I looked over at Harry.

"See? Not that bad." He told me, trying to sound reassuring. I glared at him.

"Don't say that. That's when bad things happen!" I warned. Suddenly something banged against Harry's door.

"What's happening?" Ron asked. One of the branches moved, curling into itself. It slammed itself onto the top of the car. We all jumped. I looked at Harry accusingly.

"I told you not to say stuff like that!" I cried. The car slid forward into a free fall. We all screamed. It landed on some lower branches. The branches began pummeling the car from all sides.

"What kind of tree is this?" Ron asked over the sounds of wood hitting metal.

"A bad one." I replied. The car fell again, landing hard the ground this time. A large tree branch started coming down on the car.

"Reverse, reverse, reverse!" Harry cried, as if saying everything loudly and three times would make something happen. I slammed the car into reverse and we drove away from the tree. The tree branch slapped down onto the ground, narrowing missing us.

"Bad tree! Bad tree!" I repeated over and over again in shock. I made a mental note to avoid that tree at all costs. Suddenly the car doors flew up and the seats jerked sideways. We flew out of the car and landed hard on the ground. The grass didn't provide much of a cushion. I moaned as I sat up. The trunk opened and our trunks were ejected in the same manner. Hedwig's, Elf's and Scabber's cages were flung at us. I caught Elf's cage, but it caught it with my chest and it knocked the breath out of me. All the doors shut and the car drove off on its own. We stood up and watched it drive itself into the forbidden forest. Ron whimpered, holding his broken wand and looking miserable.

"Dad's gonna kill me." I looked at Harry.

"This is the one time I'm glad we don't have parents…" I told him.

"Let's get inside." He said. We moved to gather our things.

"Yeah."


	8. Punishment

A/N please review.

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We made our way up the stairs in Hogwarts. We put our trunks with the rest of the students' trunks and our cages next to the other cages.

"A house elf shows up in our bedroom!" I cried.

"We can't get through the barrier to platform nine and three quarters!" Harry added.

"And we almost get killed by very bad tree!" I finished.

"Clearly someone doesn't want us here this year." Harry summed it up.

"Well take a good look, lads." We froze at the foot of the next staircase and looked up at Mr. Filch and his red eyed cat, Mrs. Norris.

"This night might well be the last you spend in this castle…"

* * *

We stood in Snape's office. Snape stood at his desk with a newspaper in hand. Filch lurked in the doorway, a look of pure pleasure on his face.

"You were seen! By no less than seven Muggles! Do you have any idea how serious this is? You have risked the exposure of our world. Not to mention the damage you've inflicted a Whomping Willow that has been on these grounds for hundreds of years!" Snape told us.

"To be fair, I think that the tree did more damage to us than we did to it…" I told him.

"Silence! I assure you, were you in Slytherin and your fate rested with me, the three of you would be on the train home tonight! As it is-." He started.

"They are not." A voice interrupted. We turned towards Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall as they entered the room.

"Headmaster, these boys-."

"And girl!" I interrupted. He shot me a look.

"These boys _and girl_, have flouted the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry. As such-."

"I'm well aware of the bylaws, Severus, having written more than a few myself. However, as head of Gryffindor house, it is for Professor McGonagall to determine the appropriate action." Professor Dumbledore reminded him.

"We'll go get our stuff…" Ron mumbled.

"What are you talking about, Mr. Weasley?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Well, you're going to expel us, aren't you?" Ron asked.

"Not today, Mr. Weasley. But I must impress on the three of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be sending owls to both of your families tonight. And you will each get detention." She told us. Professor Dumbledore nodded approvingly.

"Splendid. Now, I suggest we return to the feast."

* * *

As I sat down by Fred and George at the Gryffindor table, they insisted on knowing every detail of my 'adventure'.

"And Harry, Ron and I got detention." I finished.

"Detention on the first night! You broke our record!" Fred said.

"Congratulations." George said happily, patting me on the back. I rolled my eyes at them and started eating.


	9. The Howler

**A/N Another short chapter, so I'll update with another one too. As always, please review!**

* * *

"Welcome to Greenhouse Three, second years. Today we will be re-potting Mandrakes. Now, who here can tell me the properties of the Mandrake? Yes, Ms. Granger?" Our herbology teacher, Professor Sprout, asked.

"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is used to return those who have been transfigured into their original state. It's also quite dangerous. The Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it." Hermione answered.

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor. As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, they cries won't kill you. However, they will knock you out for several hours. That is why I have provided each of you with a pair of earmuffs." Professor Sprout told us. Everyone put on the earmuffs. She took the pot in front of her and grasped the plant and pulled. Instead of roots, there was a small, muddy and extremely ugly baby looking sort of thing. Beside me, Neville dropped to the ground as it started bawling. Professor Sprout stuck the Mandrake into another pot and poured dirt over it. Once the Mandrake was quiet, she removed her earmuffs. She looked at Neville.

"Hmm… Looks as thought Mr. Longbottom neglected his earmuffs…" She murmured. I shook my head, looking down at him.

"No, ma'am… He just fainted." I told her.

"Very well. We'll just leave him there then. Come on, four to a tray, plenty to go around."

* * *

At lunch, Ron was using tape to 'fix' his wand. Ron shook his head.

"Say it. I'm doomed."

"Your doomed." I amended. A light flashed in front of my eyes. I blinked quickly, trying to see again.

"Hiya, Harry, Elizabeth! I'm Colin Creevey. I'm in Gryffindor too! I'm huge fans of both of you! Do you think we could get a picture together? To prove I met you of course!" A small boy in front of us told us excitedly.

"Nice to meet-." Harry started. Mercifully, owls streamed in with the mail. Colin hurried off. Errol, the Weasley's owl, fell beak first into a plate of food. Ron shook his head and grabbed the red envelope from him.

"Bloody bird's a menace… Oh no!" He said as he stared at the envelope.

"Heads up, everyone! Weasley's got himself a howler!" Seamus yelled.

"Go on, Ron. I ignored one from my Gran once… It was horrible." Neville said. He looked disturbed. I raised my eyebrow and then looked back at Ron. His hands shook as he opened it. It jumped up out of his hands and the flap of the envelope became a mouth.

"**RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AN IQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOU'RE FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!**" Mrs. Weasley's voice screamed out of the envelope. The envelope turned itself towards Ginny.

"Oh, and Ginny, dear. Congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud." With that said, it ripped itself to pieces. Ron looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock and die as all the other students started laughing at him. I looked over at him.

"Look at it this way: how much worse can things get?"


	10. The New DADA Teacher

**A/N the promised second update. **

**Also wanted to assure you that chapters will get longer as the story goes on and to apologize for the short chapters I've been giving you. **

* * *

Gilderoy Lockhart paced before the class. All the other girls hung on his every word. I gave them disgusted looks and wished for once I was sitting next to Harry instead of Hermione. A large cage rattling on the desk, covered with a blanket.

"Let me introduce you your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Me. Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League and five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award… But I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!" He awaited laughter. A few girls gave him forced smiles. For the record, I was _not_ one of those girls. His expression suddenly darkened. "Now, be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard-kind! You may find yourself facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here…" He turned towards the cage with a showman's flair. "I must ask you not to scream. It may provoke them." He warned. Harry looked over at me. I shrugged, not knowing what he was talking about either. Lockhart pulled the blanket off the cage. Inside the cage were dozens of very small, electric blue creatures with ugly faces and wings. They rattled the bars. "Cornish Pixies?" Seamus asked, not sounding very scared or impressed. "Freshly caught Cornish Pixies!" Lockhart corrected Seamus. Seamus laughed. "Laugh if you will, Mr. Finnegan, but Pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters. Let's see what you make of them now!" He opened the cage door. They all flew out and flew around the room, breaking things and shredding papers and books. Two of them seized Neville by the ears and hung him by his cloak from the ceiling. "Come on now! Round them up! They're only Pixies!" Lockhart yelled. People were hitting them with books and ducking under desks. Hermione, Harry, Ron and I kneeled beside a desk together. Lockhart raised his wand. "Peskipiski Pesternomi!" He yelled. It had no effect. A Pixie grabbed the wand and flew off with it. Seeing that, Lockhart ran for his office. All the other students had run out the door by now, except for us and Neville, who still hung from the ceiling. "I'll ask you four to just nip the rest of them back into their cages!" He slammed the door behind him. "What do we do now?!" Ron yelled. Hermione raised her wand. "Immobilus!" She shouted. The Pixies froze in midair. Neville hung from the ceiling, looking pitiful. "Why is it always me?" 


	11. Eat Slugs!

**A/N Please review.**

* * *

Hermione, Ron and I were sitting at a table in the courtyard. We looked up when we saw the Slytherin and Gryffindor Quidditch teams staring at each other a few yards away. "Uh-oh. I smell trouble." Ron said. We walked over to them. Ron looked at their gleaming broomsticks. "Those Nimbus Two Thousand Ones!" He gasped. "A generous gift from Draco's father." The captain of the Slytherin team told us. "That's right, Weasley. You see, unlike some, my father can afford to buy the best." Draco said. "At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in. They got in on pure talent!" Hermione told him. "No one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood!" Instantly, Fred and George flew at his throat. Oliver Wood held them back. "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" Ron said. He whipped out his wand. "Eat slugs!" Green light shot out of his wand… from the wrong end. He flew to the ground. Everyone gathered around him. "Ron! Say something!" Hermione said. Ron rolled over and opened his mouth. Slugs came out. Colin Creevey ran over with his camera. "Wow! Can you hold him still, Harry?" He asked. "Colin, get out of the way." I told him. Harry looked at Hermione and me. "Let's get him to Hagrid. He'll know what to do."

* * *

We sat in Hagrid's hut. Ron sat in a chair with a bucket on his lap.

"Better out than in… Who was he trying to curse anyway?" Hagrid asked.

"Malfoy." I told him dryly, thinking of all the things that I was going to do to Malfoy if I ever got him alone in a dark ally….

"He called me a mudblood." Hermione said quietly.

"He didn't!" Hagrid cried. Hermione looked at Harry and me.

"It means dirty blood. Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who was Muggle-born. Someone with non-magic parents… It's not a term one usually hears in civilized conversation." She explained.

"Yeh see, there are some wizards, like Malfoy's family, who think their better than everyone else 'cause they're what people call pureblood." Hagrid explained.

"That's horrible." Harry said.

"It's disgusting." Ron agreed. Hagrid nodded.

"An' it's codswallop ter boot! Dirty blood… There's 'ardly a wizard today that's not half blood or less. If we 'adn't married Muggles we would've died out long ago. Besides, they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can't do! Don' you think on it, Hermione, not for a minute!"


	12. The First Victim

**A/N Two updates in one day! **

* * *

Hermione, Ron and I walked through the hallways, going to meet Harry. We came around the corner and almost ran into Harry.

"Did you hear it?!" He asked.

"Hear what?" Ron asked.

"That voice!"

"What voice?" Hermione asked.

"I heard it, first in Lockhart's office then again just now!" He told us.

"Was it the sound of your sanity finally dropping dead?" I asked.

"It's moving. I think it's going to kill!" He ran off. Hermione, Ron and I looked at each other and then ran after him.

"Harry, what are you doing?!" I yelled. We caught up with him as he stared at the wall. We looked at it. In blood was written:

**THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED**

"What's that?" I asked fearfully. We looked at the cat hanging beneath it.

"That's Filch's cat… Mrs. Norris." Ron whispered in shock. Suddenly the stairwell was alive with voices and seconds later, dozens of students ran forward. They froze when they saw the scene in front of them.

"What's going on here?! Go on now. Make way!" Filch pushed his way through the crowd. He saw Mrs. Norris and then looked at us.

"YOU! You murdered my cat! I'll kill you!" He threatened.

"Argus!" Dumbledore said sternly as he came forward.

"Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately!" He ordered.

"Everyone except you four." He added, staring at us. The corridor emptied except for the teachers and the four of us.

"It was definitely a curse that killed her. Probably the Transmorgrifian Torture. Encountered it once myself. The full story's in my autobiography-." Lockhart started.

"She's not dead, Argus. She's petrified." Dumbledore interrupted.

"Precisely! So unlucky I was there. I know the very counter-curse that could have spared her-." Lockhart started again.

"But how she's been petrified, I cannot say…" Dumbledore went on.

"Ask him! It's him that's done it!" Filch cried, pointing at Harry.

"He did not!" I yelled back.

"If I might, headmaster…" Snape began. Everyone looked at him.

"Perhaps the Potter's and their friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time?" Snape suggested. I looked at him in shock. Was he defending us?

"However, the circumstances are suspicious. I, for one, don't recall seeing Harry Potter at dinner." He went on. Ah! There was the doubt and throwing us under the bus!

"I'm afraid that's my doing, Severus. You see, Harry was helping me answer my fan mail!" Lockhart told him. Snape's lip curled up in disgust. I could not blame him.

"That's why, Ron, Hermione and I went looking for him, Professor!" I said.

"We'd just found him when he said-." Hermione started. She stopped abruptly.

"Yes, Ms. Granger?" Snape asked.

"When I said I wasn't hungry. We were heading back to the common room and found Mrs. Norris." Harry took over and lied. I looked at him. _Well done, young grasshopper_, I thought approvingly.

"Innocent until proven guilty." Dumbledore said.

"My cat has been petrified! I want to see some punishment!" Filch yelled.

"We will be able to cure her, Argus. As I understand it, Madam Sprout has a very healthy growth of Mandrakes. When they have matured, a potion will be made which will revive Mrs. Norris. In the meantime, I advise caution to all." Dumbledore said calmly.


	13. A History Lesson

**A/N I'm going to give you two updates again today. Hope you guys like it! please review and tell me what you think! **

* * *

In Professor McGonagall's classroom, Hermione raised her hand. Professor McGonagall called on her.

"Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets." A hush fell over the classroom.

"My subject is Transfiguration, Ms. Granger." Professor McGonagall reminded Hermione. Hermione nodded.

"Yes, Professor, but there seems to be very little written about the Chamber of Secrets." Hermione told her.

"Very well… You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Huffelpuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. Three of the founders co-existed quite harmoniously. One did not. Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. In other words, purebloods. Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school… According to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in this castle, known as the Chamber of Secrets. Shortly before departing, he sealed it until that time when his own true heir returned to school. The heir alone could open the Chamber of Secrets and unleash the horror within, and by doing so, purge the school of all those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy in study magic."

"Muggle-borns." Hermione said.

"Yes. Naturally, the school has been searched many times for such a chamber. It has never been found."

"Professor, what exactly does the legend tell us lies in the Chamber?" Hermione asked.

"The Chamber is said to be home to something which the heir of Slytherin alone can control. It is said to be home to…a monster."

* * *

We walked down the hallway. Ahead of us, Malfoy walked with Crabbe and Goyle.

"Do you think it's true? Do you think there really is a Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked.

"Yes. Couldn't you tell? McGonagall's worried. All the teacher's are." Hermione said.

"But if there really is a Chamber of Secrets and it's really been opened…" Harry started.

"The Heir of Slytherin has returned to Hogwarts." I finished.

"The question is, who is it?" Harry asked.

"Let's think. Who do we know who thinks Muggle-Borns are scum." Ron said in mock puzzlement, staring at Malfoy.

"If you are even talking about-." I started.

"Of course I'm talking about Malfoy!"

"Well, he's a bully for sure, but I'm pretty sure you'd have to have something called intelligence to do things like these. That's the one thing that Malfoy's father can't buy for him. Well, that and a decent face." I said.

"Crabbe and Goyle would know… We could trick them into telling us!" Ron said.

"No. Even they aren't that thick. But there might be another way. Mind you, it would be difficult. Not to mention we'd be breaking fifty school rules. And it would be dangerous. Very dangerous." Hermione told us. I smirked.

"When do we start?"

In a dark nook of the library, we huddled together over a book. It didn't look suspicious _at all_. Sarcasm. One of the many services I offer.

"Here it is… 'The Polyjuice Potion. Properly brewed, the Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to transform himself temporarily into the physical form of another'." Hermione read.

"You mean, Harry and I drink some of this stuff and we turn into Crabbe and Goyle?" Ron asked.

"Yes."

"Wicked! Malfoy will tell us everything!" Ron cried.

"Exactly… But it's tricky. I've never seen a more complicated potion. Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed… And of course, we'll need a bit of whoever we want to change into." Hermione explained.

"Hang on now… I am drinking nothing with Crabbe's toenails in it!" Ron protested.

"How long will it take to make?" Harry asked.

"A month."

"A month?! But if Malfoy _is_ the heir of Slytherin, he could attack half the muggle-borns in the school by then!" Harry protested.

"Would you like to do it and see if you can do it faster?" I asked. He shot me a look and fell silent. Hermione gave me a small, grateful smile before looking at Harry.

"You don't have to tell me that."


	14. The Rogue Bludger

.

* * *

We watched the Quidditch game in interest. It was Slytherin vs. Gryffindor. Draco was the seeker of the Slytherin team. I shot him death looks that he couldn't see. Suddenly the Bludger flew towards Harry. He dodged it and it came at him again. George swooped down and hit it away with his bat. It came at Harry yet again.

"Blimey! Harry's got 'imself a Rogue Bludger!" Hagrid cried.

"Rogue Bludger?" I asked.

"It's bein' tampered with!" He told me. Ron drew his wand but Hermione grabbed his hand.

"You're joking, right? Besides, even with a proper wand, it's too risky! You could hit Harry!" She protested.

"Hermione, remember the last time a Quidditch game went bad? Give me _something_ to set on fire!" I told her. She shook her head.

"I don't know!" Harry and Draco dove after the snitch underneath the stands. Harry came out, reaching for the snitch. I bit my lip. He was an inch away… If he could just grab it… Suddenly the Bludger slammed into his arm and knocked him onto the sand. Hermione, Ron, Hagrid and I hurried through the stands to get into the field. All the other players had stopped. The Bludger was repeatedly slamming itself to the ground, trying to hit Harry. Hermione raised her wand.

"Finite Incantatum!" She cried. It exploded in a shower of red sparks. The teachers, Hermione, Ron and I hurried forward to get to Harry. Harry was holding his arm painfully. Lockhart pushed his way through the crowd.

"Not to worry, Harry. I'll fix that arm of yours straight away!" He said, pulling out his wand.

"No! No! Not you!" Harry said, trying to scramble away.

"Poor boy doesn't know what he's saying… This won't hurt a bit!"

"Don't-!" I started. But Lockhart twirled his wand and pointed it at Harry's arm. It looked like an empty rubber glove.

"Ah… Yes… Well, that can happen. The point is, the bones are no longer broken!" Lockhart said. I looked at him, giving him my best 'drop dead' look.

"Broken? He doesn't have bones left!"

* * *

At the hospital wing, we gathered around Harry's bed. Madam Pomfrey scurried around, pouring liquid from a bottle with a skeleton design on it into a cup.

"He should have been brought straight to me! I can mend bones in heart beat. But growing them back…" She complained.

"You will be able to, won't you?" I asked.

"I'll be able to, certainly, but it will be painful. You're in for a rough night, Mr. Potter. Regrowing bones is a nasty business." She said. She handed him the cup. He took a drink and then spit it out.

"What were you expecting, pumpkin juice?" Madam Pomfrey demanded.

"Now, out, all of you! The boy's got bones to re-grow!" She said, shooing us away.

* * *

I lied in bed, tossing and turning as I thought about everything that had happened. I finally got semi-comfortable on my back and lied there. I closed my eyes, trying to go to sleep. Then they popped open again with a thought. I sat up in bed, gritting my teeth.

"Dobby!"


	15. The Second Victim

**A/N hope you guys like this one. Please review.**

* * *

I silently got out of bed. I slipped the locker with my parents' picture in it over my head, pulled a hoodie over my shorts and baseball shirt that I was wearing to bed, shoved my feet into my ankle boots and shoved my wand into one of my boots before hurrying out of the dormitory. Through the common room, through the portrait hole, down the moving stairs, into the hallway…. And that's as far as I got before realizing I didn't know how to get to the hospital wing from the Gryffindor tower.

"You look lost." I spun around. Fred and George grinned at me.

"What are you guys doing?" I hissed.

"Could ask you the same question. For the record, when Snape opens his desk drawer tomorrow, you don't know who did it, alright?" Fred asked.

"Who did what?" I asked dumbly to show I could do it. They both nodded.

"Good girl. Here." George handed me a piece of paper, folded over several times. I took it questioningly.

"What's this?"

"The reason we know our way around the school like the back of our hands. Here." Fred pulled out his wand and pointed it at the map.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Suddenly the page was alive with drawings. I read what it said on the front flaps.

"'Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present… the Marauder's map'!"

"That map has taught us more than the teachers here." George said proudly.

"And now it can teach you in the ways of the mischievous!" Fred added, smiling at me.

"It's a map of Hogwarts?" I asked, unfolding it to look at it.

"And it shows every person-." George started.

"And what they're doing-."

"Every minute-."

"Of everyday!" Fred finished. I looked up at them in surprise.

"You made this?"

"Oh no!" Fred said, shaking his head.

"Stole it from Filch's office our first year. Still no idea who Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are, but as far as we're concerned, they are our best friends!" George explained. I smirked, examining the map.

"Yep. So, go on and have your fun." George told me. They turned to leave but then turned back.

"Oh and to make sure no one else reads it, just tap the map with your wand and say 'mischief managed'. Goodnight!" They hurried off. I unfolded the map and watched as two sets of footprints magically moved back to the Gryffindor tower with the names 'Fred Weasley' and 'George Weasley' printed underneath them. I smiled and searched for Harry. I found the hospital wing on the map and hurried towards it. As I got to the door of the hospital wing, I took my wand out of my boot and tapped the map.

"Mischief managed." It went blank, as if nothing had ever been there in the first place. I smiled and tucked it into my pocket.

"Man, I love this school." I hurried into the hospital wing and over to Harry, tucking my wand back into my boots as I went. He woke up when I shook him and looked at me in surprise.

"Why are you here?"

"I think I know who sent that Bludger after you!" I whispered. There was a popping sound. We turned to the foot of the bed, where Dobby was standing.

"Harry and Elizabeth Potter came back to school. Dobby warned them! Harry and Elizabeth Potter should have listened to Dobby. Harry and Elizabeth Potter should have gone back home when they missed the train!" Dobby told us.

"It was you! You stopped the barrier from letting Ron, Elizabeth and I through!" Harry said, connecting the dots.

"Indeed, sir. Dobby hid and watched for Harry and Elizabeth Potter and sealed the gateway." He admitted.

"You nearly got us expelled!" I hissed.

"At least you would be away from here! Harry and Elizabeth Potter must go home! Dobby thought his Bludger would be enough to make Harry Potter see-." Dobby started.

"You made that Bludger chase me!?" Harry demanded.

"And that's what I snuck in here to tell you!" I told him.

"Dobby feels most aggrieved, sir, ma'am. Dobby had to iron his hands." He held out his burned, bandaged hands for us to see.

"You'd better clear off before my bones come back or I might strangle you!" Harry threatened.

"Harry, no!" I warned. I didn't care what Dobby did; my brother wasn't going to kill the poor creature.

"Dobby is used to death threats… Dobby gets them five times a day at home…" Dobby told us, smiling weakly. He blew his nose on the pillowcase he was wearing.

"Why do you wear that thing?" I asked.

"This, ma'am? This is a mark of the house elf's enslavement. Dobby can only be freed if his master presents him with clothes. The family is careful not to pass Dobby so much as a sock for then he would be free to leave their house forever." He explained. He shook his head and then looked up at us again.

"Terrible things are about to happen at Hogwarts! Harry and Elizabeth Potter must not stay here now that history is to repeat itself!" He told us quickly.

"Repeat itself? You mean this has happened before?" Harry asked. Dobby seized the skeleton bottle from Harry's bedside table and beat himself on the head with it. I reached across Harry to wrestle it from his grasp.

"Tell me, Dobby! When did this happen before? Who's doing it now?!" Harry demanded.

"Dobby cannot say, sir! Dobby only wants Harry and Elizabeth Potter to be safe!" With another popping sound, he was gone. Lights flickered in the hallway and footsteps sounded.

"Get under the bed!" Harry ordered.

"I am not getting under the-." I started to protest. He shoved me off the bed so I landed hard on the floor. I gave him a death look but scurried under the bed obediently, trying not to break my wand in my boot or crumple the map in my pocket. I watched from under the bed as McGonagall and Dumbledore came into the room, setting a stiff body onto the nearest bed. Madam Pomfrey leaned over him.

"What happened?"

"There's been another attack." Dumbledore told her.

"Perhaps he managed to get a picture of his attacker?" McGonagall suggested. Dumbledore took the camera from his hands. Only then did I realize that the body was Colin Creevey. Dumbledore opened the camera. A jet of steam hissed out.

"What does this mean, Albus?" McGonagall asked.

"It means our students are in great danger, Minerva. Mr. Creevey was fortunate. If not for this-." He held up the camera. "-He would be surely dead."

"What should I tell the staff, Albus?" McGonagall asked worriedly. I heard Dumbledore sigh.

"Tell them the truth. Tell them Hogwarts is no longer safe. Tell them it's as we feared. The Chamber of Secrets is indeed open again."


	16. The Duel

**A/N So sorry for not updating sooner! As a peace offering, I'll update two more times after this one! Sorry again and please review anyway!**

* * *

"Again? You mean the Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?" Hermione asked. We sat in an empty bathroom of the school as Hermione brewed the Polyjuice Potion.

"Of course! Don't you see? Lucius Malfoy must've opened it when he was at school here and now he's told Draco to do it!" Ron said.

"Maybe… We'll have to wait for the Polyjuice Potion to know for sure, though." Hermione told him.

"Enlighten me: why are we brewing this potion in broad daylight in the middle of a girl's lavatory? Don't you think we'll get caught?" I asked.

"Never. No one ever comes in here." Hermione told me.

"Why?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Moaning Myrtle."

"Who's Moaning Myrtle?" Ron asked. A young ghost girl raced out of a stall to get face to face with Ron.

"I'm Moaning Myrtle! I wouldn't expect _you_ to know _me_. Who would ever talk about fat, ugly, miserable, moping, moaning Myrtle?" She sobbed loudly and then dove head first into a toilet, splashing water onto the floor. Hermione sighed.

"She's a little sensitive."

* * *

In the great hall, a stage had been put up and Lockhart strutted on it.

"Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent. In the light of the dark events of recent weeks, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Dueling Club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions. For full details, see my published works." Lockhart told us. He winked at the crowd. I rolled my eyes.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape. He has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry. You'll still have your Potions Master when I'm through with him, never fear." Lockhart assured us.

"What's the fun in that?" I asked, whispering it to Harry. He was obviously trying not to laugh. Lockhart and Snape faced each other, bowed and then turned and walked a couple yards away from each other. They spun around, wands poised like swords.

"As you can see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position. On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course." Lockhart explained.

"One. Two. Three." Lockhart counted. He'd barely gotten the word 'three' out of his mouth before Snape cast his first spell.

"Expelliarmus!" Lockhart was knocked off his feet, flying backwards.

"Do you think he's alright?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Who cares?" Harry, Ron and I asked in perfect unison. She shot us all a look. Lockhart rose to his feet, a little unsteady.

"Yes, that an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind me saying so, it was very obvious that you were about do that. If I had wanted to stop you, it would been only too easy-."

"Perhaps it would be prudent to first teach students to block unfriendly spells, Professor." Snape interrupted.

"An excellent suggestion, Professor Snape. Let's have a volunteer pair. Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, about you two?" Lockhart asked.

"Weasley's wand causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending Potter to the hospital wing in a matchbox. Might I suggest someone from my own house? Malfoy, perhaps?" Snape said. Harry and Draco stared at each other as they took their places on stage. They stiffly bowed to each other and then turned and walked away. They turned back to each other once they were a few yards away.

"Wands at the ready! When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponent. Only to disarm! We don't want an accidents. One. Two-." Lockhart started counting. Draco fired early and Harry was knocked off his feet with the blast. He jumped up and pointed his wand at Draco.

"Rictusempra!" Draco doubled over in pain, wheezing.

"I said disarm only!" Lockhart protested.

"Serpensortia!" A black snake flew out of the tip of Draco's wand and landed in front of Harry. Snape stepped forward.

"Don't move, Potter. I'll get rid of that for you." He said.

"Allow me!" Lockhart jumped forward. He pointed his wand at the snake and then flicked the wand. There was a bang as the snake flew up in the air and then flopped down on the stage again, unhurt. It slithered towards another student. Harry said something in another language. Everyone stared at him as the snake moved back.

"What are you playing at?!" The student demanded. Snape waved his wand and the snake disappeared in a puff of smoke. Ron grabbed Harry's arm.

"Come on. Move. Now."

* * *

Hermione, Harry, Ron and I got back to the Gryffindor common room.

"You're a Parselmouth! Why didn't you tell us?!" Ron demanded.

"I'm a what?"

"It means you can talk to snakes." Hermione told him.

"I know. I mean, I accidentally set a python on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once. You remember, Elizabeth!" Harry said.

"I honestly didn't believe you, though." I admitted. He shot me a look.

"But so what? I bet loads of people here can do it!" Harry said.

"No. They can't. It's not a very common gift, Harry. This is bad." Hermione told him.

"What's so bad? If I hadn't told that Snake not to attack Justin-." He started.

"Oh, that's what you said to it!" Ron cried.

"You were there, you heard me!" He protested.

"I heard you speaking Parseltongue. Snake language." Ron told him.

"I spoke a different language. But I didn't realize… How can I speak a different language without knowing I can?" Harry asked us.

"I don't know, Harry. But it sounded like you were edging the snake on or something. It was creepy, even for this place." I told him. Hermione looked him in the eye.

"Harry, listen to me. There's a reason the symbol of Slytherin house is a serpent. Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth. He could talk to snakes too."

"Exactly. Now the whole school is going to think you're his great-great-great grandson or something!" Ron said.

"But I'm not! I can't be!" I looked at him.

"He lived a thousand years ago, Harry. For all we know, we both could be."


	17. Polyjuice Potion

**A/N The promised second update.**

* * *

After days of Harry's enduring the burden of everyone thinking he's the Heir of Slytherin, we sat at the Gryffindor table at the great hall, away from other students.

"Everything's set. We just need a bit of who you're changing into." Hermione said.

"Crabbe and Goyle." Harry said.

"And we also need to make sure that the real Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interrogating Malfoy." She added.

"How?" Ron asked. She held up two cupcakes.

"I've got this all worked out. I've filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. Simple, but powerful. You know how greedy they can be. They won't leave the feast until every last trifle is gone. Once they're asleep, hide them in broom cupboards and pulled out a few of their hairs." Hermione explained.

"And whose hair are you ripping out?" Ron asked.

"I've already got mine." She held up a small vial with a few hairs in it.

"Millicent Bulstrode. She's in Slytherin. I got this off her robes." She explained.

"And you?" Ron asked, looking at me.

"I'm not using the Polyjuice potion. Think of me as the guard. If anyone happens to come into the bathroom, I lie my way through it. If anyone wonders where you are, I'll give you an alibi." I explained. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Lucky." He said enviously.

"Yeah, well, I'm the best liar here and my face is too pretty to be changed into someone else's, so it makes sense." I told them. Hermione put the cupcakes down in front of the boys.

"Just make sure that Crabbe and Goyle find these. I'm going to check on the Polyjuice Potion." She said. She hurried off.

"And don't eat them." I reminded them before hurrying after her.

* * *

Harry and Ron arrived in the bathroom with their hairs. Hermione had already separated the potion into three glasses.

"Once we change, we only have an hour until we change back into ourselves." Hermione told them. They nodded understandingly.

"Add the hairs." She ordered. The three of them added the hairs to the mud-like concoction. I was suddenly feeling very lucky not to have to drink all that. Once the hairs were mixed in, they drank the potion.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Ron complained. He ran into a stall, slamming the door behind him.

"Me too!" Hermione ran into another stall. I watched in horror as Harry began to change into Goyle.

"Remind me never to watch something like that again… It's like a car wreck. Ugly but you can't look away." I complained. Ron came out of his stall, looking like Crabbe.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I… I don't think I'm going. You go on without me!" Hermione said from her stall.

"Hermione, are you okay?" I asked.

"Just go! You're wasting time." They hesitated, but then left. I knocked on Hermione's stall door as they ran off.

"Hey! I know Slytherin's are ugly, but you can't look that bad!" I said through the door.

"Go away!"

"I'm supposed to stay here, remember? Lies, alibis and what not." I reminded her. She didn't answer. I sighed and settled myself down on the floor, leaning against the door.

"Whatever. We've got about an hour before Harry and Ron come back." I pulled out the Marauder's map from my inside robe pocket and watched as they made their way to the Slytherin dungeons…

* * *

Harry and Ron sprinted into the bathroom, looking like themselves again. I was waiting for them, the Marauder's map already tucked out of sight again. I could tell them about it, but I had a bad feeling that Harry and Hermione would make me hand it over to a teacher, so I didn't. We hurried over to Hermione's stall.

"Hermione, come out! We've got loads to tell you!" Harry called.

"Go away!" She cried. Moaning Myrtle came through the stall door.

"Oooh… Wait until you see. It's awful!" She glided away. I knocked on the stall door again.

"Hermione?" The door opened slowly, though she kept herself behind the door.

"Do you remember me telling you that the Polyjuice Potion was only for human transformations?" Hermione asked. She crept out into view. Her face was covered in fur, her eyes yellow and pointed ears poked through her hair.

"It was cat hair I plucked off Millicent Bulstrode's robes! Look at my face!" She sobbed. Ron's eyes widened.

"Look at your tail!"

* * *

Two weeks later, Harry, Ron and I stumbled into the hospital wing with books in our arms.

"Oh good, put those anywhere." Hermione told us. She looked normal enough, if you excused the giant cat tail.

"Is that thing ever going to go away?" Ron asked, motioning towards her tail. She flicked it and stared at it.

"Any day now, according to Madam Pomfrey. I'm just thankful I've stopped coughing up hairballs." Hermione said.

"Trust me, we all are." I told her.

"Now. What about the Chamber of Secrets? Any new leads?" She asked.

"Nothing." Harry admitted.

"Has it gotten any better? I mean, is anyone speaking to you?" Hermione asked.

"Well, Neville asked to borrow a tubeworm in Potions yesterday. I suppose that's something." He said. Ron snatched a card from halfway underneath Hermione's pillow.

"'To Miss Granger. Wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart'. You sleep with this under your pillow?" He asked.

"Of course not. I don't know how it got there!" She said quickly, blushing. She snatched it away from him.

"Now, all three of you need to go. I still have six hundred pages to read in Transformation Through the Ages."


	18. The Diary

**A/N the promised third update.**

* * *

As we walked through the hallway, we became aware of water on the floor.

"Looks like Myrtle's flooded the bathroom again." Harry said with a sigh.

"Yuck." Ron complained. Moans came out of the bathroom as we walked in. Myrtle was sitting on a window ledge, crying. All the taps were on, water flooding over the sinks.

"Come to throw something else at me?" She moaned.

"Why would I throw something at you?" Harry asked.

"Don't ask me…. Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me!" She complained.

"But it can't hurt you if someone throws something at you. I mean, it would just go right through you!" Ron told her. She flew forward until she was nose to nose with him.

"Oh, sure! Let's all throw books at Myrtle because she can't feel it! Ten points if you get it through her stomach! Fifty points if it goes through her head!" She yelled.

"Who threw it at you, anyway?" I asked to save Ron. She backed away from him.

"I don't know. I didn't see them. I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death and it fell through the top of my head." She explained. Harry picked up a small black book from the floor. We left her to mope.

* * *

That night, I was lying in bed, looking at the Marauder's map. Hermione was still in the hospital wing and our two room-mates were out cold. I saw that Harry was the only one in the common room now. Suddenly, he disappeared. I stared at the map, wondering if it had malfunctioned. I waited a minute and then got out of bed. I slipped on my hoodie and tucked the map into my pockets. I shoved my feet into boots and grabbed my wand from my bedside table. I snuck out of the dormitory and downstairs into the common room. Harry was definitely gone. I pulled the map out of my pocket again and examined it. He was nowhere in the school. I put it back in my pocket and reached out to touch the diary on the table. Suddenly it flipped open and glowed. Harry was thrown out of it, landing on the chair in front of the table again. I stared at him in shock. He looked at me, looking just as shocked.

"It was Hagrid. Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago."

* * *

Harry, Ron, Hermione and I walked across the school grounds together. Harry had explained everything to the three of us by now.

"It can't be Hagrid! It just can't be!" Hermione protested.

"We don't even know this 'Riddle' and he sounds like a dirty little snitch to me!" Ron agreed.

"The monster had killed someone! What would any of us have done?" Harry asked.

"Look. Hagrid is our friend. Why don't we just go and ask him about it?" Hermione suggested.

"That'd be a cheerful visit. 'Hi, Hagrid. Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately'?" I said sarcastically.

"Mad and hairy? Wouldn' be talking about me, would yeh?" Hagrid asked from behind us. We spun around.

"No!" We all said at once. He gave us a suspicious look.

"What's that you got, Hagrid?" I asked to change the subject, motioning to the canister in his hand.

"Flesh Eating Slug Repellant. For the mandrakes, you know. According to Professor Sprout, they still got a bit of growing to do, but once their acne clears up, we'll be able to chop 'em up and stew 'em and get all those people in the hospital un-petrified. 'Til then, you four best watch yourselves, all right?" He asked. We all nodded. Hagrid walked away. Just then, Neville ran up.

"Harry, I don't know who did it, but you'd better come quickly!"

* * *

In Harry, Neville, Ron and Seamus's dorm, all Harry's things were strewn around and scattered. Someone was obviously looking for something.

"It had to be a Gryffindor. Nobody else knows our password. Unless it wasn't a student…" Hermione said.

"Well, whoever it was, they were looking for something." I told them. Harry sighed and shook his head slowly.

"And they found it… Tom Riddle's diary is gone."


	19. Determined

Ron and I walked with the Gryffindor Quidditch team towards the Quidditch grounds.

"Listen up. We play our game, Huffelpuff doesn't stand a chance. We're stronger, quicker, smarter…" Oliver was giving the players a pep talk.

"Not to mention they're dead terrified that Harry will petrify them if they fly anywhere near him." Fred and George added, snickering.

"That too." Oliver admitted. Professor McGonagall blocked our way. We stopped and looked at her.

"The match has been cancelled." She announced.

"Cancelled! They can't cancel Quidditch!" Oliver complained.

"Silence, Wood! You will return to Gryffindor tower now. Mr. Potter, Miss Potter, Mr. Ronald Weasley, there's something you three should see."

She paused in front of the hospital room door.

"I must warn you, this will be bit of a shock." She opened the door. We walked in and saw Madam Pomfrey leaning over another petrified victim. As we got closer, we realized with a jolt of shock who it was.

"Hermione!" I gasped.

"She was found near the library. Along with this. Does this mean anything to you?" McGonagall asked, holding up a small mirror. We all shook our heads. She nodded gravely.

* * *

In the Gryffindor common room, McGonagall read off a piece of parchment.

"All students will return to their house common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No exceptions." She rolled up the parchment. "I should tell you all this… Unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught, it is likely that the school will be closed." She left the room. At once, everyone was talking amongst themselves. "Haven't any of the teachers noticed that all the Slytherin are safe? Isn't it obvious all this stuff's coming from Slytherin. The Heir of Slytherin, the monster of Slytherin… Why don't they just chuck all the Slytherin's out?" Neville suggested. I couldn't argue with that logic. "They can't close Hogwarts! Where would we all go?!" Seamus cried. "I don't care what anyone says. As long as Dumbledore's here, Hogwarts will be here!" Dean Thomas said. Harry pulled Ron and me off to the side. "We've got to talk to Hagrid. I can't believe it's him. But if he did set the monster loose last time, even by accident, he'll know how to get into the Chamber of Secrets. And that's a start." Harry whispered. "But you heard McGonagall! We're not allowed to leave the tower except for class." Ron whispered back. Harry looked over at me. "I think it's time we get dad's old cloak out again." The three of us nodded in unison, determined. 


	20. Hagrid's Hut

  
Under the invisibility cloak, we knocked on Hagrid's door that night. Hagrid swung open the door, crossbow in hand. "Who's there?" He asked. We pulled the cloak off us. Harry pointed to the crossbow. "What's that for?" "Nothing, nothing… I've been expecting… Doesn't matter. Sit down, I'll make tea." We walked inside the hut. "Are you okay, Hagrid? Did you hear about Hermione?" I asked. "Oh, yeah… I heard all right." He said, nodding. "Look, we have to ask you something. Do you know who opened the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked. Hagrid looked like he was about to answer when there was a knock on the door. We threw the cloak over ourselves. Hagrid nodded in our direction and then looked at the door. "C-come in!" The door opened. Dumbledore, looking grim, entered. He was followed by a portly man in pinstriped suit. "Good evening, Hagrid." Dumbledore greeted him. Ron looked at Harry and me under the cloak. "That's dad's boss! Cornelius Fudge. The Minister of Magic!" He hissed. I elbowed him to shut him up. "Bad business, Hagrid, very bad business… Had to come. Four attacks on Muggle-borns. Things have gone far enough. Ministry's got to act." Fudge said. "I never… You know I never, Professor Dumbledore, sir!" Hagrid stuttered. "I want it understood, Cornelius, that Hagrid has my full confidence." Dumbledore said. "Look, Albus, Hagrid's record is against him! I've got to take him!" Fudge said. "Take me? Where? Not Azkaban prison!" Hagrid protested. "For a short stretch only. Not punishment, Hagrid. More of a precaution. If someone else is caught, you'll be released with a full apology." Fudge explained. There a knock on the door. Dumbledore opened it. Lucius Malfoy entered. "Already here, Fudge? Good, good." He said. "What are you doin' here?! Get outta my house!" Hagrid yelled. "My dear man, please believe me, I have no pleasure at in being inside your… do you call this a house? I simply called at the school and was told the headmaster was here." "And what exactly do you want with me, Lucius?" Dumbledore asked him. "Dreadful thing, Dumbledore, but the governors feel it's time for you to step aside. This is an Order of Suspension. You'll findall twelve signatures on it. I'm afraid we feel you're losing your touch. What with all these attacks, there'll be no Muggle-borns left at Hogwarts. And we all know what an awful loss that would be." Lucius handed Fudge roll of parchment for him to look at. "Now, see here, Lucius. Dumbledore suspended. No, no… Last thing we want right now. If Dumbledore can't stop these attacks… I mean to say, who can?" Fudge asked. "That remains to be seen, but as all twelve governors have voted…" "An' how many did yeh have to threaten before they agreed?!" Hagrid shouted. "I would advise you not to shout at Azkaban guards like that." Lucius said calmly. "Yeh can take Dumbledore! Take him away an' the Muggle-Borns won' stand a chance. There'll be killing's next!" Hagrid shouted. "Calm yourself, Hagrid." Dumbledore told him. He turned to Lucius. "If the Governor's want my removal, Lucius, I shall of course step aside. However, you will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given to those who ask for it." His eyes drifted unmistakably to Harry, Ron and I. "Admirable sentiments. We shall all miss your highly individual way of running things, Albus, and only hope your successor will manage to prevent any more killings." Lucius strode over to the door and walked out with Dumbledore. Fudge waited for Hagrid. Hagrid took a deep breath. "If anyone wanted to find out some stuff, all they'd have to do is follow the spiders. That'd lead 'em right…" With that said, Hagrid left and Fudge followed. Once the door shut, we threw the cloak to the floor. Fang howled and scratched at the door miserably. "Hagrid's right! With Dumbledore gone, there'll be an attack a day!" Ron said. "Look!" I pointed at the windowsill. A trail of spiders escaped through a crack in the glass. Harry grabbed Hagrid's lantern. "C'mon!" He led us out of the house. We saw in the lantern-light that the spiders went into the Forbidden Forest. Harry and I moved to follow. "What are you doing?" Ron asked, not following us. "You heard Hagrid. Follow the spiders!" Harry told him. "They're heading into the Dark Forest!" Ron complained. I sighed and walked into the forest anyway, followed by Harry and Fang. Ron moaned behind us. "Why spiders? Why couldn't it be 'follow the butterflies'?" 


	21. Follow the Spiders

**A/N One of my favorite chapters to write! I hope you like it. Please review and tell me what you think. **

* * *

"Why are you so afraid of spiders?" I asked Ron out of curiosity. He looked disturbed as he answered.

"When I was a little kid… Well, Fred and George took my teddy bear and turned it… turned it into a giant spider." He told me. I laughed.

"It's not funny!"

"I'm sorry, but it kind of is!" I returned.

"Shush!" Harry told us from a few feet ahead. We got to the mouth of a cavern.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Ron moaned.

"Don't panic… Picture them as teddy bears." I suggested.

"That doesn't help." He whispered back. A giant (and I do mean giant, as in saddle that baby up and call him a mutated horse!) spider came out of the cavern.

"We're friends of Hagrid's. You're Aragog, aren't you" Harry informed him.

"_Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before_." The spider answered.

"He's in trouble. Up at the school, there have been attacks. They think its Hagrid. They think he's opened the Chamber of Secrets like before." Harry explained. Ron tugged hard on my sleeve. I took my arm away and ignored him.

"_That's a lie! Hagrid has never opened the Chamber of Secrets_!"

"But if Hagrid never… That means you're not the monster." Harry said slowly.

"_The monster was born in the castle. I came from a distant land, in the pocket of a traveler_." He explained.

"Harry, Elizabeth…" Ron moaned.

"Shush!" I told him.

"But if you're not the monster, what did kill that girl fifty years ago?" Harry asked Aragog.

"_We do not speak of it! It is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others_!" Aragog told Harry.

"But have you seen it?"

"_I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which Hagrid kept me. The girl was discovered in a bathroom. When I was accused, Hagrid brought me here_."

"Harry! Elizabeth!" Ron cried, grabbing at us.

"What?!" Harry snapped, annoyed. Ron pointed up. We looked up. Spiders were coming down on strings of webs, right towards us.

"Well, thank you. We'll just go!" I said. We started backing away.

"_Go? I think not. My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye, friends of Hagrid_." He turned and disappeared into the shadows of the cavern again.

"Can we panic now?" Ron asked.

"Yes!" I agreed. The spiders were surrounding us. Fang started barking. Harry swung at the nearest spider with the lantern.

"Nice knowing you!" Ron said as we drew our wands. Suddenly a car horn rang out.

"Was that-?" I started. The flying Weasley car drove up and the spiders skittered out of its path. The doors flew open.

"Get in!" Harry ordered. Fang and Ron climbed in the passenger side while Harry and I ran to get into the driver's side. Fang was in the backseat while Ron, Harry and I squeezed into the front row. A spider appeared at Ron's window. I drove while Harry uttered a spell and sent the spider flying off the window. We rolled up the windows. I glanced in the rear-view mirror. An army of spiders was chasing after us. We burst out of the forest and in front of Hagrid's hut. The doors flew open again. We climbed out. Fang high tailed it inside the hut again as the car drove itself back into the Forbidden Forest.

"'Follow the spiders'! 'Follow the spiders'! If he ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill Hagrid! I mean, what was the point of sending us out there?! What have we found out?" Ron asked. Harry looked at the two of us.

"We know one thing… Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets. He was innocent."


	22. The Final Clue

**A/N Hope you guys like this chapter.**

* * *

We sat in the hospital wing with Hermione.

"We need you, Hermione… Now more than ever…" I whispered. Harry suddenly took something from Hermione's stiff, curled fist.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's torn from a book. Come on." We swiftly left the hospital wing and ducked into an alcove to read it.

"'Of the many fearsome beasts that roam our land, none is more deadly than the Basilisk. Capable of living for hundreds of years, instant death awaits any who meet this giant serpent's eye. Spiders flee before it and the crowing of a rooster can kill it'." Harry read.

"That's it! The monster is a basilisk!" I told them.

"That's why I can hear it, it's a snake!" Harry said.

"But if it kills by looking people in the eye, why is it no one's dead?" Ron asked.

"Because no one did look it in the eye. Not directly, at least." Harry said.

"Colin just saw it through his camera, Justin must've seen it through Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast, but he's a ghost, he can't die again." Harry explained when Ron gave him a suspicious look.

"And Hermione had that mirror! I bet she using it to look around corners!" I added.

"What about Mrs. Norris? I'm pretty sure she didn't have a mirror or a camera!" Ron reminded us.

"The water… There was water on the floor that night. She only saw the Basilisk reflection. The crowing of the rooster is fatal to it! That's why Hagrid's roosters were killed! Spiders flee before it…. It all fits!" Harry told us excitedly.

"But how's the Basilisk getting around? Someone would have seen a giant snake slithering around!" I reminded him.

"Hermione answered that too." Harry pointed to a single word scribbled on the page in Hermione's hand. _Pipes_

"It's going through the plumbing?" I asked.

"Remember what Arargog said? About that girl fifty years ago? She died in a bathroom. What if she never left?" He asked. Ron and I exchanged looks.

"Moaning Myrtle."

* * *

Professor McGonagall ordered all the students to return to their dorms. Instead, Ron, Harry and I kneeled out of sight on a staircase to listen to them talking.

"As you can see, the Heir of Slytherin has left another message. Our worst fear has been realized. A student has been taken by the monster. Into the Chamber itself. I'm afraid we shall have to send the students home. I'm afraid... this is the end of Hogwarts." McGonagall told the staff. Lockhart hurried in.

"So sorry. Dozed off. What have I missed?" He asked cheerfully.

"Just the man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Your moment has come at last." Snape told him.

"My m-moment?" Lockhart sputtered.

"Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?" Snape asked him.

"Did I? I… I don't recall." Lockhart returned.

"That settles it. We'll leave it to you to deal with the monster, Gilderoy. Your skills, after all, are legend." McGonagall told him.

"V-very well. I'll… I'll by in my office… Getting ready." He hurried off.

"The rest of us should go and inform the students what has happened." McGonagall said to the remaining teachers.

"Who is the monster's taken, Minerva?" Professor Sprout asked.

"Ginny Weasley." They moved away so we could see the writing in blood on the wall.

**HER SKELETON WILL LIE IN THE CHAMBER FOREVER**


	23. Lockhart's Not So Brave Heart

**A/N A second update because the last chapter was short. **

* * *

Harry, Ron and I dashed inside Lockhart's office.

"Professor we have some information for you-." Harry started. Then we saw that he was packing.

"Going somewhere?" I asked.

"Um, well, yes. Urgent call. Unavoidable. Got to go!"

"What about my sister?!" Ron demanded.

"Well, as to that… Most unfortunate… No one regrets it more than I-."

"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher! You can't go now!" Ron protested.

"I must say, when I took the job, nothing in the job description-."

"You're running away? After all those things you did in your books?" Harry asked.

"Books can be misleading." Lockhart admitted.

"You wrote them!" Harry reminded him.

"My dear boy, do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all-."

"You're a fraud! You've just been taking credit for things that other wizards have done!" Harry cried.

"Harry, Harry, Harry. There was work involved. I had to track down those people and ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. No, it's not all book signings and publicity photos. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long, hard slog!" Lockhart explained.

"Is there anything you can do?" I asked.

"Now that you mention it, I'm rather gifted with memory charms. Otherwise, you see, all those wizards would have gone blabbering and I never would have sold another book! I'm afraid I'll have to do the same to the three of you, lest you do the same!" He whipped out his wand. Harry, Ron and I pointed our wands at him.

"Okay, let's do a head count. We have Ron, whose wand could do dreadful things by accident. Not one you want to have pointed at you. Then we have Harry, who is a great wizard. And then there's me. Did Dumbledore tell you about how I was the best dueler he'd seen from a first year? And that was last year, before I learned lots of new things." I told him. He dropped his wand. Ron picked it up.

"Let's go."

* * *

We walked into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom with Lockhart in front of us. Ron and I kept our wands pointed at him as Harry walked over to Myrtle.

"Hello, Harry… What do you want?" She asked.

"To ask you how you died."

"Oooh… It was dreadful. It happened right here. In this very cubicle. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. I was crying and then I heard someone come in."

"Who was it, Myrtle?"

"I don't know! I was distraught! But they said something funny. A kind of made-up language. And I realized it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door to tell him to go away and… I died."

"Just like that? How?" Harry pressed.

"I don't know… I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes. Over there!" She pointed to the bank of sinks. Harry went over and examined the pipes and the tiles. Then he saw something on one of the taps.

"This is it, Ron, Elizabeth. This is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets." He announced.

"Say something, Harry. Something in Parseltongue!" I told him. He stared at it intently and then when he did speak, it came out as more of a hiss. The circular of sinks open and revealed a huge pipe beneath them all.

"Remind me to be thankful I'm the normal twin." I told him.

"Excellent. Good work. Well, then. I'll just be going. There's no need for me-." Lockhart started.

"Oh, yes there is. You go first." Harry told him.

"Now, what good will that do?" He asked.

"A bloody lot of good if it's a two hundred foot drop onto jagged rocks." I told him. Lockhart stepped up to the pipe. Ron and I exchanged looks. Then we reached out and shoved him over. He toppled into the pipe and went down. There was silence for a couple seconds.

"It's really quite filthy down here." He called up.

"All right, let's go." Harry said.

"Oh, Harry. If you die down there, you're welcome to share my toilet." Myrtle told him before disappearing into a stall. I grabbed his shoulders and looked him in the eye.

"For the love of gosh, Harry, do not die down there!" Then we turned and jumped into the pipe.


	24. The Chamber

**A/N I hope you guys like this chapter. I'll be updating the rest of the Chamber of Secrets today so that we can move onto The Prisoner of Azkaban. **

* * *

We slid down wicked fast. I screamed a couple times before we tumbled onto the damp, animal-skeleton-covered floor below. Lockhart was there waiting for us, examining his dirty robes.

"Remember, any sign of movement, close your eyes straight away!" Harry reminded us. We all nodded. We went down the tunnel.

"What's that? Up ahead?" Ron asked.

"It looks like a snake." Harry said. Lockhart covered his eyes with his hands.

"It's not moving… It's not a snake. It's a snake skin." I told them. We went closer to examine it.

"Whatever shed this thing must be twenty long or more!" Ron cried. There was a thump behind us. We slowly turned. Lockhart had fainted.

"Heart of a lion, this one." Ron said sarcastically. He went over to Lockhart and kneeled beside him. Suddenly, Lockhart grabbed Ron's wand and scrambled to his feet. He pointed the wand at the three of us.

"The adventure ends here, boys… and girl! But don't fret. The world will know our story. How I was too late to save the girl. How you three tragically lost your minds at the sight of her managled body. I'll even bind a limited edition in this snake skin. Say goodbye to your memories!" He raised the wand.

"Oblivate!" Ron's wand exploded like a small bomb. It blasted Lockhart off his feet and into the rocks above, along with a shower of magical sparks. Rubble rained down. Harry and I stumbled backwards and out of the way. When we looked up again, a solid wall of rock sealed the tunnel between us and Ron.

"Ron?! Are you okay?!" Harry yelled.

"I'm okay! This git's not, though. He got blasted by my wand." Ron explained.

"What now?" He added a second later. "Wait here! Elizabeth and I will go on. We'll go and find Ginny. If we're not back in an hour… Try to shift some of the rocks so we can get back through!" Harry told him. We got to our feet and kept moving.

"Elizabeth?" He asked me as we walked.

"Yeah?"

"Don't be stupid."

"Right back at you, baby brother."

"I'm so older than you!"

"I'll believe you when you pull out the birth certificates." We'd reached a stone wall with a small, round door in it and stopped our bickering.

"Speak in Parseltongue." I whispered to him. A few un-translatable hisses later, the door swung open. We drew our wands and entered. A chamber stretched ahead of us. In pools of black water were stone serpents. Ahead was a huge statue of Salazar Slytherin. A motionless Ginny lied in front of it. Harry and I scrambled down the short ladder into the chamber and ran forward.

"Ginny, please wake up! Please don't be dead!" Harry pleaded, kneeling down in front of her and dropped his wand.

"She won't wake." We spun around towards a teenage boy that came forward.

"Tom… Tom Riddle? What do you mean she won't wake? She's not…" Harry trailed off.

"She's still alive. But only just."

"Are you a ghost?"

"A memory. Preserved in a diary for fifty years." He explained. Harry and I looked at the diary in Ginny's hands. Harry touched her arm.

"She's cold as ice. You've got to help us, Tom. There's a Basilisk-." Harry started.

"It won't come until it's called." Tom assured us. He was twirling a wand between his fingers.

"Tom… Give me my wand…" Harry said, holding out his hand for it.

"You won't be needing it." Tom said calmly. I pointed my own wand at Tom.

"Listen, we've got to save her!" Harry told him.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Harry. You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger."

"But she's dying!"

"Yes. I'm afraid so. But then, she's been in so much pain, poor Ginny. She's been writing to me for months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes. Ginny poured her soul out to me. I grew stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful enough to start feeding Ginny a few secrets, to start pouring a bit of my soul back into her..." He explained slowly. He grinned cruelly.

"Yes, it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets." He told Harry.

"She couldn't… She wouldn't!" Harry protested.

"It was Ginny who set the Basilisk on the Mud-Bloods. Ginny who wrote the threatening messages on the wall!"

"But why?" Harry asked.

"Because I told her to. You'll find that I can be very persuasive. Not that she knew what she was doing. Still, the power of the diary began to scare her and she tried to dispose of it in the girl's bathroom. But then, who should find it, but you. The very person I was so anxious to meet." Suddenly something clicked in my mind.

"Harry, we need to get out of here!" I cried. He looked at me, confused.

"Ah… You inherited your mother's brains, I see!" Tom told me. He looked back at Harry.

"How is it that two babies with no extraordinary talent managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scare while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?" He asked.

"Harry!" I cried again, desperate.

"Why do you care? Voldemort was after your time!" Harry said, ignoring me.

"Voldemort is my past, present and future!" He traced words in the air with Harry's wand. **TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE **Then he waved the wand and they rearranged themselves. **I AM LORD VOLDEMORT **

"You… You're the heir of Slytherin… You're Voldemort!" Harry gasped.

"Yes. You're sister figured it out. She was suspicious from the moment she set foot in this chamber. She's smart. But stupid at the same time." Tom said. I glared at him, still keeping my wand raised.

"Surely you didn't think I'd keep my filthy Muggle father's name? No. I fashioned myself a new name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world!" He went on.

"Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" Harry protested.

"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!" Tom informed him.

"He'll never be gone! Not as long as those remain who loyal to him!" Suddenly there was a squawk. A red bird flew into the chamber, carrying a bundle in his talons.

"Fawkes!" Harry cried. Fawkes dropped the bundle near Harry. He picked it up. It was the sorting hat.

"This is what Dumbledore sends his defender?! A songbird and an old hat?!" Tom said, laughing. He turned to the statute of Salazar Slytherin and spoke in Parseltongue. The mouth of the stature opened and a giant basilisk spilled out.

"Let's match the power's of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the famous Potter's, shall we?" He asked. He said something else in Parseltongue and the basilisk hissed and darted forward.


	25. Fight

**.**

* * *

Harry turned and ran as the Basilisk slithered after him, ignoring me. I pointed my wand at Tom again.

"Ex-." I started to try and disarm him. He was quicker. He flicked his wand and mine flew out of my hand. He caught it and threw it aside. He reached out and grabbed me before I could run, holding me back. It felt weird. He wasn't really solid yet, but he was about to touch me. It was like having ice locked around my shoulders. I struggled against him but it was no use; he had me trapped.

"HARRY! DON'T LIKE IN ITS EYES!" I screamed a reminder. Suddenly Fawkes swooped down and tore at the basilisk's eyes.

"NEVER MIND!" Fawkes flew away as Harry kept running away from the now blind basilisk.

"Fool! You think you're safe?! I can still hear you!" Tom yelled. I struggled against Tom some more. He threw me to the stone hard floor. I groaned at the pain of the impact and then rolled over to face him. He pointed Harry's wand at me. Fawkes swooped down and snatched the wand, dropping it to the floor a couple feet away. I kicked at Tom and knocked him to the ground. Harry ran back to us. He ran over to Ginny and looked worriedly down at her.

"Yes. The process is nearly complete. In a few minutes, Ginny Weasley will be dead and I will cease to be a memory. Lord Voldemort will return! Very much… alive!" Tom said, climbing to his feet. Suddenly the Basilisk shot out of the tunnel at Harry. He was trapped between the basilisk and the statue. He started climbing up the statue. Something glittered in the corner of my eye. I turned towards the sorting hat. The silver hilt of a sword glittered in the hat. I crawled towards it, unnoticed by Tom. I snatched it and pulled it out of the hat. I ran towards the statue. I tried jump over the Basilisk's tail right as it moved. It tripped me and I fell to the floor. The sword clattered to the ground. The basilisk turned towards me, hissing. Harry started climbing down. He got to me and grabbed the sword as the basilisk moved to strike. Faster than I saw, he was in between me and the basilisk, the sword stabbed through the roof of the basilisk's mouth. It hissed madly and thrashed. It stuck a fang into Harry's arm. Then it flopped to the ground and died. Harry saw the blood dripping off his robe sleeve. He looked at me. We exchanged 'oh crap' looks. He yanked the fang out and crawled towards Ginny. I joined him on the other side of Ginny's unconscious form.

"Remarkable, isn't it? How quickly the venom of the Basilisk penetrates the body? If you have any final words, Potter, you'd best speak them now. I'd guess you have little more than a minute to live. So ends the famous Harry Potter. On his knees in the Chamber of Secrets. Defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry. Funny, isn't it? The damage a silly little book can do. Especially in the hands of a silly little girl." As Tom monologued, Harry took the diary and the basilisk fang in his hands.

"What are you doing? NO!" Tom yelled. Harry stabbed the diary with the fang. Black ink spurted from the pages. Tom shrieked in pain. Pieces of him began fading away.

"Harry, let me." I said. I took the fang and the diary and stabbed it with all the strength I had. Tom shrieked again and then disappeared all together. Ginny started stirring. She weakly sat up.

"Harry? It was me! But I swear I didn't mean to! Riddle made me! He wrote to me… took me over… I didn't even know whose diary it was! I found it inside my cauldron, the day we all went to Diagon Ally… Harry, you're hurt!" She gasped. The three of us looked at the wound on his arm.

"Ginny. You need to get yourself out. Follow the chamber. You'll find Ron. Elizabeth, go with her." Harry ordered. Neither one of us moved. Fawkes flew down and walked over to Harry's arm.

"You were brilliant, Fawkes… I just… wasn't quick enough." Harry told him. Tears fell from Fawkes' eyes and onto his wound. Almost instantly, the wound began to heal itself.

"Of course… Phoenix tears have healing powers." He mused. He looked over at Ginny and I.

"It's all right. It's over. It's just a memory."


	26. Freedom

**.**

* * *

Harry and I stood in Dumbledore's office. The Weasley's were in the hospital wing with Ginny, who was on bed rest but unhurt.

"First, Harry, Elizabeth, I want to thank you. You must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you. Secondly, I sense you're troubled by something. Am I right?"

"It's just, you see, sir, I couldn't help but noticing certain things. Certain similarties. Between Tom Riddle and me." Harry explained.

"You can speak Parseltongue, Harry, because Lord Voldemort can speak Parseltongue. Unless I am mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar."

"Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?" Harry asked, dumbfounded.

"Not intentionally, but… yes."

"So the Sorting Hat was right. I should be a Slytherin."

"It's true, Harry, you do possess many of the qualities Voldemort himself prizes. Resourcefulness. Determination. A certain disregard for the rules. Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor."

"Only because I asked it to."

"Exactly. Which makes you very different from Voldemort. It's not our abilities that show who we truly are, Harry, but our choices. If you want proof you belong in Gryffindor, Harry, I suggest you look more closely at this." He handed Harry the sword. He read the name engraved on the hilt.

"'Godric Gryffindor'."

"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat." Dumbledore told him.

"But Elizabeth pulled it out." Harry protested.

"But you used it." Suddenly, Lucius Malfoy entered the room. Dobby was behind him. I looked at him in surprise. I went to talk to him as Harry, Lucius and Dumbledore talked at the desk.

"Dobby! This is your master? The family you serve is the Malfoy's?" I asked. He nodded.

"I'm sorry." I told him. He said nothing, just looked down.

"Hey, Dobby?" He looked up at me.

"Thanks for trying to help us." He smiled.

"Come, Dobby! We're leaving!" Dobby scuttled towards the door. Lucius kicked him out. I spun towards the desk.

"Sir? Could I have that?" Dumbledore followed my eyes to the diary and nodded slowly. I took it and looked at Harry.

"Hey, give me your sock."

* * *

I ran after Lucius and Dobby.

"Mr. Malfoy! I have something for you!" I called. He stopped and turned. I handed him the diary.

"I know you slipped it into Ginny's cauldron. Thought you'd like to keep the thing you tried to kill everyone with." I told him. He glared at me and shoved the diary into Dobby's hands. He walked off. Dobby started to follow him.

"Open it!" I hissed. Dobby looked confused, but he opened the diary.

"Dobby! Dobby, come!" Lucius ordered.

"Master has given Dobby a sock! Dobby is free!"

"What? I didn't-." He turned back and looked between Dobby and me in shock.

"Oops." I said, smirking. He pulled out his wand.

"You lost me my servant! Avad-." Dobby stepped between me and him and suddenly Lucius flew backwards.

"You will not harm Elizabeth Potter!" Dobby told him. Lucius looked at me, huffed and then walked away. Dobby turned to me.

"Elizabeth Potter freed Dobby! How can Dobby ever repay her?"

"Just promise me something."

"Anything!"

"Never try and save Harry's and my life again."


	27. Epilogue

**.**

* * *

We were seated at tables in the Great Hall when the doors opened. We turned and saw Hermione. We hurried down the table and met her halfway. She hugged me and then Harry. She looked to Ron and then just stuck out her hand. They shook hands awkwardly.

"You solved it! You solved it!" She said excitedly. I hugged her again just for the heck of it.

"With loads of help from you!" I said. McGonagall tapped her goblet and Dumbledore stood up. Hermione, Harry, Ron and I all hurriedly sat down.

"Before we begin our feast, let's give a round of applause to Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey, whose Mandrake Juice has successfully administered to all those who have been petrified." Everyone applauded.

"Also in the wake of recent events, all exams have been cancelled." He added. Everyone but Hermione applauded. Hermione looked honestly upset. The doors opened again. Everyone looked as Hagrid entered nervously.

"Sorry, I'm late. The owl deliverin' my release papers got lost 'n confused. Some ruddy bird named Errol!" Hagrid said. Ron ducked his head.

"I just wanted to say… Thanks." Hagrid told us.

"There's not Hogwarts without you, Hagrid!" Harry told him. Dumbledore stood up and clapped. Everyone else joined in, clapping and laughing in joy.


	28. New Story

The first chapter of Elizabeth Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is now up!


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